Across the nervous system, neurons often encode circular stimuli using tuning curves that are not sine or cosine functions, but that belong to the richer class of von Mises functions, which are periodic variants of Gaussians. For a population of neurons encoding a single circular variable with such canonical tuning curves, computing a simple population vector is the optimal read-out of the most likely stimulus. We argue that the advantages of population vector read-outs are so compelling that even the neural representation of the outside world's flat Euclidean geometry is curled up into a torus (a circle times a circle), creating the hexagonal activity patterns of mammalian grid cells...

Adult neurogenesis, an essential mechanism of brain plasticity, enables brain development along postnatal life, constant addition of new neurons, neuronal turnover, and/or regeneration. It is amply distributed but negatively modulated during development and along evolution. Widespread cell proliferation, high neurogenic, and regenerative capacities are considered characteristics of teleost brains during adulthood. These anamniotes are promising models to depict factors that modulate cell proliferation, migration, and neurogenesis, and might be intervened to promote brain plasticity in mammals...

Strong magnetic fields, synchrotron emission, and Compton scattering are omnipresent in compact celestial X-ray sources. Emissions in the X-ray energy band are consequently expected to be linearly polarized. X-ray polarimetry provides a unique diagnostic to study the location and fundamental mechanisms behind emission processes. The polarization of emissions from a bright celestial X-ray source, the Crab, is reported here for the first time in the hard X-ray band (~20-160 keV). The Crab is a complex system consisting of a central pulsar, a diffuse pulsar wind nebula, as well as structures in the inner nebula including a jet and torus...

Unconventional characteristics of magnetic toroidal multipoles have triggered researchers to study these unique resonant phenomena by using both 3D and planar resonators under intense radiation. Here, going beyond conventional planar unit cells, we report on the observation of magnetic toroidal modes using artificially engineered multimetallic planar plasmonic resonators. The proposed microstructures consist of iron (Fe) and titanium (Ti) components acting as magnetic resonators and torus, respectively. Our numerical studies and following experimental verifications show that the proposed structures allow for excitation of toroidal dipoles in the terahertz (THz) domain with the experimental Q-factor of ∼18...

Patient-centric medicine is a derivative term for personalised medicine, whereby the pharmaceutical product provides the best overall benefit by meeting the comprehensive needs of the individual; considering the end-user from the beginning of the formulation design process right through development to an end product is a must. One way in which to obtain personalised medicines, on-site and on-demand is by three-dimensional printing (3DP). The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the shape, size and colour of different placebo 3D printed tablets (Printlets™) manufactured by fused deposition modelling (FDM) 3DP on end-user acceptability regarding picking and swallowing...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Conifers have the highest rates of mortality during their first year, often attributed to water stress; yet, this tree life stage is the least studied in terms of hydraulic properties. Previous work has revealed correlations between xylem anatomy to both hydraulic transport capacity and resistance to hydraulic dysfunction. In this study, we compared xylem anatomical and plant functional traits of Pseudotsuga menziesii, Larix occidentalis, and Pinus ponderosa seedlings over the first 10 wk of growth to evaluate potential maximum hydraulic capabilities and resistance to drought-induced embolism...

We present a simple method to estimate the central charge of the conformal field theory corresponding to a critical point of a two-dimensional lattice model from Monte Carlo simulations. The main idea is to use the Wang-Landau flat-histogram algorithm, which allows us to obtain the free energy of a lattice model on a torus as a function of torus radii. The central charge is calculated with good precision from a free-energy scaling at the critical point. We apply the method to the Ising, tricritical Ising (Blume-Capel), Potts, and site-diluted Ising models, and we also discuss an estimation of the conformal weights...

We show that charged toroidal droplets can develop fingerlike structures as they expand due to Saffman-Taylor instabilities. While these are commonly observed in quasi-two-dimensional geometries when a fluid displaces another fluid of higher viscosity, we show that the toroidal confinement breaks the symmetry of the problem, effectively making it quasi-two-dimensional and enabling the instability to develop in this three-dimensional situation. We control the expansion speed of the torus with the imposed electric stress and show that fingers are observed provided the characteristic time scale associated with this instability is smaller than the characteristic time scale associated with Rayleigh-Plateau break-up...

In this Letter we present data from experiments on the National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade, where it is shown for the first time that small amounts of high pitch-angle beam ions can strongly suppress the counterpropagating global Alfvén eigenmodes (GAE). GAE have been implicated in the redistribution of fast ions and modification of the electron power balance in previous experiments on NSTX. The ability to predict the stability of Alfvén modes, and developing methods to control them, is important for fusion reactors like the International Tokamak Experimental Reactor, which are heated by a large population of nonthermal, super-Alfvénic ions consisting of fusion generated α's and beam ions injected for current profile control...

Endometriosis is a disease distinguished by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity with intralesional recurrent bleeding and resulting fibrosis. The most common locations for endometriosis are the ovaries, pelvic peritoneum, uterosacral ligaments, and torus uterinus. Typical symptoms are secondary dysmenorrhea and cyclic or chronic pelvic pain. Unusual sites of endometriosis may be associated with specific symptoms depending on the localization. Atypical pelvic endometriosis localizations can occur in the cervix, vagina, round ligaments, ureter, and nerves...

We give an explicit construction of complex maps whose nodal lines have the form of lemniscate knots. We review the properties of lemniscate knots, defined as closures of braids where all strands follow the same transverse (1, ℓ) Lissajous figure, and are therefore a subfamily of spiral knots generalizing the torus knots. We then prove that such maps exist and are in fact fibrations with appropriate choices of parameters. We describe how this may be useful in physics for creating knotted fields, in quantum mechanics, optics and generalizing to rational maps with application to the Skyrme-Faddeev model...

To compare the effect of endoscopic-assisted low temperature plasma (ELTP) and electric planer (EP) on the treatment of adenoid hypertrophy. Methods: We searched China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, Weipu Database, Chinese Biomedical Literature (CMB), PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Database, and collected the randomized controlled studies regarding the effect of ELTP and EP on the treatment of adenoid hypertrophy from January 2007 to June 2016. Methodologies were used to evaluate the included studies, and Meta-analysis was performed by Revman 5...

A comparison of ultra high performance supercritical fluid chromatography, ultra high performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography for the separation of synthetic cathinones has been conducted. Nine different mixtures of bath salts were analyzed in this study. The three different chromatographic techniques were examined using a general set of controlled synthetic cathinones as well as a variety of other synthetic cathinones that exist as positional isomers. Overall 35 different synthetic cathinones were analyzed...

Torus palatinus (TP), torus mandibularis (TM), and buccal exostosis are localised, benign, osseous projections, occurring in maxilla and mandible. Etiology is multifactorial and not well established. Tori and exostoses have been associated with parafunctional occlusal habits, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, migraine and consumption of fish. Concurrence of TP, TM, and exostosis in the same individual is very rare. Concurrence of TPand TM has not been reported from Pakistan. We report a case of a 22-year female patient manifesting concurrence of TP, bilateral TM, and maxillary buccal exostoses; with possible association of abnormal occlusal stresses and use of calcium and vitamin D supplements...

Social behavior often includes the production of species-specific signals (e.g., mating calls or visual displays) that evoke context-dependent behavioral responses from conspecifics. Monoamines are important neuromodulators that have been implicated in context-dependent social behavior yet we know little about development of the monoaminergic systems and whether they mediate the effects of early life experiences on adult behavior. We examined the effects of diet and social signals on monoamines early in development in the Plains spadefoot toad (Spea bombifrons), a species in which diet affects the developmental emergence of species recognition and body condition affects the expression of adult mating preferences...

In this paper, two new brackish-water species of Macrostomum (M. shenzhenensis n. sp. and M qiaochengensis n. sp.) collected from the artificial lake in Overseas Chinese Town mangrove wetland, are described based on the morphology of the penis stylet and on a molecular phylogenetic analysis. M. shenzhenensis n. sp. has an elongate, narrow stylet with torus-shaped distal wall thickening, while M. qiaochengensis n. sp. has a hook-like stylet with a pointed end. Both the 18S and 28S rDNA phylogenetic analyses of M shenzhenensis n...

Many features of auditory processing are conserved among vertebrates, but the degree to which these pathways are established at early stages is not well explored. In this study, we have observed single cell activity throughout the brains of larval zebrafish with the goal of identifying the cellular responses, brain regions, and brain-wide pathways through which these larvae perceive and process auditory stimuli. Using GCaMP and selective plane illumination microscopy, we find strong responses to auditory tones ranging from 100 Hz to 400 Hz...

PURPOSE: There have been only a few reports on the prevalence of torus mandibularis (TM) in young adult patients, and TM can have various adverse effects on oral and occlusal states in middle-age patients. This study was designed to determine the association between TM status and oral and occlusal states in young healthy dentate adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study; the sample population included students at Hiroshima University (Hiroshima, Japan) who participated for practical education...

Isoflavones are natural substances that exhibit hormone-like pharmacological activities. The separation of isoflavones remains an analytical challenge because of their similar structures. We show that ultra-high performance supercritical fluid chromatography can be an appropriate tool to achieve the fast separation of 12 common dietary isoflavones. Among the five tested columns the Torus DEA column was found to be the most effective column for the separation of these isoflavones. The impact of individual parameters on the retention time and separation factor was evaluated...